Christchurch

Haeata Community Campus in Christchurch has been granted an exemption from the Ministry of Education's centralised Ka Ora, Ka Ako school lunch programme, following a contentious dispute over mouldy meals last year. The school will take over its own catering from Term 1 next year, a move its board says is a victory for the community.

Fire and Emergency New Zealand has revealed that last week's callout to a Christchurch chemical company involved a reported spill of 200 litres of trichloroethylene, a carcinogenic industrial degreaser, but the company disputes the account, saying no spill occurred and one of its workers simply tripped and fell.